Local Plan Update from WBC regarding the allocation of the Housing Infrastructure Fund (HIF) that was to be used for GGV is now allocated to the north of the county
“Following Prime Minister’s announcement on strict restrictions on movement and non-essential gatherings, re3 has taken the decision to close the Recycling Centres in Bracknell and Reading. This decision has not been taken lightly, but we must now all play our part, stay home to save lives and protect the vulnerable, elderly and the NHS.
re3 will work with its Contractor to redeploy staff and maintain effective receipt of waste from collection services and operate as efficiently as possible.
We will review this decision after the initial three-week period, taking into account the Government advice at the time. During this time, we are asking residents to maximise the kerbside collections and hold-on to any inert waste they may have. We are grateful to all residents for their understanding.”
OPT IN FOR GARDEN WASTE RENEWALS NOW
Green fingered residents will be keen to know garden waste opt in applications for 2020-21 are now
open. The annual fee for a 240-litre brown wheeled bins will remain at £60 to ensure garden waste can
still be collected easily.
There are already 20,000 households across Wokingham borough subscribed to the service, which takes
away garden clippings, grass cuttings, leaves and weeds fortnightly from the kerbside. Making use of the
service means residents are able to have 6,240 litres of green material collected from the kerbside each
year – more than one large skip.
The materials are then sent to Oxfordshire to a composting facility, creating re3grow compost, which is
made available to residents via Re3’s household waste recycling centres in the spring and summer
months. Last year 10,863 tonnes of green material were collected at the kerbside and recycling centres.
The garden waste is then turned into compost and is available to buy at £3.50 per 40-litre bag, the cost
of producing it, so residents can use it in their gardens and help to grow new plants. This is an example
of the council making the most of a circular economy, collecting something from residents and turning it
into a useful resource.
This year residents who are already signed up for the garden waste collection service will receive a letter
asking them to opt in and pay online for use of a bin from 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021. These are
being sent out this week.
Invoices will no longer be issued to residents to charge them for the service. Payment can be made
online via www.wokingham.gov.uk/ordergardenwastecollection, by calling 0118 974 6000 and selecting
the “waste” option or in person at the council’s Shute End offices, or if you are a library member, you
can also get help and online access by visiting one of our libraries.
– MORE –
Date: 4 March 2020 Issued by: Connor McLoughlin
Issue No: 46/20 Version: 1.0
Wokingham Borough Council, Shute End, Wokingham, Berkshire, RG40 1BN Tel: (0118) 974 6000 Email: CEM@wokingham.gov.uk
Those who already have a brown wheeled bin and are renewing will receive a purple sticker to attach to
the bin. If residents are signing up for the first time, their bin will be delivered with a purple sticker
attached. Visit www.wokingham.gov.uk (search ‘garden waste’) to check collection days.
“It’s great to see we have so many keen gardeners and growers in our borough, with more than 20,000
people taking advantage of our garden waste collections last year,” said Cllr Michael Firmager, deputy
executive member for environment and leisure. “I hope those numbers only continue to grow,
particularly with all the materials collected being used in the circular economy to create compost and go
back into our residents gardens.”
Residents who do not want to sign up for a brown wheeled bin can still take advantage of garden waste
collections using the council’s brown compostable sacks. These have a capacity of 75-litres and cost £1
each, they can be purchased from the council’s offices or local libraries. Residents will be told their
collection day for these upon purchase.
– ENDS –
Further information: 1. More from Cllr Michael Firmager, deputy executive member for environment and leisure, on michael.firmager@wokingham.gov.uk 2. More on garden waste collections, visit www.wokingham.gov.uk (search ‘garden waste’) 3. More on re3grow compost, via https://re3.fccenvironment.co.uk/re3-foil/re3grow-compost/
Hopefully this isn’t new news for local residents as letters were posted earlier this week.
B3349/C7603 Basingstoke Road – Emergency Highway Surfacing
Wokingham Borough Council, as Highway Authority, is advising you that we will be carrying out emergency highway surfacing on B3349 Basingstoke Road (Back/Lambs Ln to Swallowfield St) and C7603 Basingstoke Road (Pursers Farm to Lieutenants cottage).
C7603 Basingstoke Road (Pursers Farm to Lieutenants cottage) works are scheduled to be carried out on the nights of 27th and 28th January 2020 between the hours of 20:00 and 06:00. B3349 Basingstoke Road (Back/Lambs Ln to Swallowfield St) works are scheduled to be carried out on the nights of 29th/30th and 31st January 2020 between the hours of 20:00 and 06:00. These emergency works are being undertaken by Wokingham Borough Council to keep the network to a maintained and safe condition. Delivery dates may be subject to change due to unforeseen circumstances. However, you will be updated should this be the case.
To allow the works to be carried out safely, a hard road closure will be in place between the hours of 20:00 and 06:00:
We apologise in advance for any inconvenience caused and thank you for your patience. Should you have any queries or require any additional information please do not hesitate to contact me.
🚫REMINDER: Motorway closure🚫
The M4 will be closed between junctions 6 and 8/9 from the evening of 17 January to early on 20 January.
Make sure to bring proof of residency when visiting re3 Recycling Centres
As of 1st February 2020, residents visiting re3 Recycling Centres will be required to present a document that identifies them as residents of the re3 area: Bracknell Forest, Reading or Wokingham Boroughs. Residents are urged to note that the windscreen stickers will no longer be accepted as proof of residency.
The windscreen permits are already being used by fewer visitors and, to save the cost of reprinting and distributing new permits, the councils are asking residents to use commonly held documents to demonstrate they are from the re3 area – Bracknell Forest, Reading and Wokingham Boroughs.
The re3 windscreen stickers (re3 resident’s permits) were introduced in 2016 to enable Meet and Greet staff to positively identify resident of Bracknell Forest, Reading and Wokingham Boroughs. They were issued to over 180,000 households but any residents who moved to the area at a later stage or lost their permit have been asked to bring an alternative proof of residency instead.
Full list of acceptable forms of ID as of 1st February 2020:
In a Joint Statement
Cllr Mrs Dorothy Hayes MBE, Bracknell Forest Council’s Executive Member for Environment and Chairman of the Joint Waste Disposal Board, Cllr Sophia James, Reading Borough Council’s Lead Councillor for Neighbourhoods & Communities and Cllr Parry Batth, Wokingham Borough Council’s Executive Member for Environment and Leisure, commented:
“The residency checks are crucial to ensure that Bracknell Forest, Reading and Wokingham Borough residents are not paying for the disposal of waste from visitors outside the re3 area, via their council tax. We’re thankful to all residents who use our fantastic facilities regularly and we estimate that majority of them are already using commonly held documents to demonstrate their address, rather than windscreen stickers. This type of residency checks proved to be very efficient and is much more cost-effective as there is no need to re-issue stickers on a regular basis. Unfortunately, we’ve also noted cases of fake permits being presented by visitors, which made them less and less reliable.”
Recycling Centres at Longshot Lane, Bracknell and Smallmead, Island Road are being visited by almost 800,000 visitors each year. re3 residents are welcome to use both of the Recycling Centres to recycle and dispose of a wide range of items including garden waste, glass, wood or electricals items. More information what you can dispose of can be found on the site facilities page.
END
Notes for Editors
See the Waste Acceptance Policy to check information on types of waste that you may bring to one of the re3 Recycling Centres and also on the types of vehicle you might use to deliver waste.
About re3 (www.re3.org.uk)
re3 is a waste management partnership between Bracknell Forest, Reading and Wokingham Borough Councils and FCC Environment. The partnership’s aims are to develop solutions for the management of waste in Central Berkshire and to encourage people to reduce, reuse and recycle more of their waste.
For more information please check website www.re3.org.uk follow re3 on social media @re3recycling or contact Communications Officer on 0118973460 or by emailing monika.bulmer@reading.gov.uk
Monika Bulmer
re3, Marketing and Communications Officer
T: 01189373460
M: 07980742445
A: Smallmead Household Waste Management Park, Island Road, Reading, RG20RP
re3 is a waste management partnership between Bracknell Forest, Reading and Wokingham Borough Councils
c/o Administering Authority: Reading Borough Council, 1st Floor, Civic Offices, Bridge Street, Reading, RG1 2LU
Subject: Notification of upcoming works at Swallowfield Road & A327 Reading Road
| Project Update – 10th January 2020
Arborfield Cross Relief Road |
|
Notification of upcoming works
13th – 15th January – Swallowfield Road including Greensward Lane Junction Multi-way traffic lights will be in place around this junction, as shown below, for three days (13th – 15th January) between 8:00am and 6:00pm. This is to allow us to install a new drainage pipe which is close to the existing road.
3rd – 7th February 2020 – A327 Reading Road (Daytime, off-peak) Multi-way traffic lights will be in place along the A327 Reading Road, 50m east of the junction with Bridge Farm Estate to 200m west of the junction from between 3rd till 7th February 2020 during off-peak hours (9:30am – 3:30pm). This is to allow us to carry out excavation works and installation of a new road foundation against the existing road.
Further works at the two new roundabouts at both ends of the road are planned for Spring/Summer this year and the next key milestone scheduled will be the installation of the green bridge, planned for early this year.
Once complete, the new relief road will reduce congestion, boost employment and create opportunities for more sustainable travel, providing traffic relief in both Arborfield and Arborfield Cross, as well as the surrounding areas. It will also support the development of Arborfield Strategic Development site consisting of 3,500 new homes.
We would like to thank you for your patience during while these vital works are being carried out. To find out more about the scheme and all our projects please Click here
A computer fly-through showing a visualisation of the new road once complete is now available by clicking here
For further information about upcoming roadworks linked to Arborfield Cross Relief Road (ACRR) that may affect your journey please visit Wokingham Borough Council’s dedicated traffic and travel Facebook and Twitter pages as well as one.network and www.myjourneywokingham.com to help plan your journey.
Also, if you know of anyone who might be interested in receiving our e-project updates, please encourage them to sign up. They can do so by sending us an email at arborfieldcross@balfourbeatty.com or by calling the Balfour Beatty helpline on 0800 121 4444. Please note: Dates listed above for upcoming traffic management can be affected by weather conditions or unforeseen circumstances. Should there be any changes we shall notify you at our earliest convenience. |
ENVIRONMENTal PROTECTION AND QUALITY OF LIFE AT THE HEART OF THE DRAFT LOCAL PLAN
“The fear of mass housing development has been hanging over the majority of our communities like a Sword of Damocles for too long; at last, we may have a way to remove it for them,” said John Halsall, leader of Wokingham Borough Council, of the draft Local Plan Update to be unveiled on 15 January.
“If it is approved and supported by government funding, we would be able to produce a Local Plan that meets a need for good homes in the borough, including genuinely affordable ones, while safeguarding our quality of life, protecting our green belt and relieving many of our villages from the fear of inappropriate development,” he said.
The council’s draft Local Plan Update, which is set to be discussed at the extraordinary executive on the 15th and if approved public consultation on it launched in February, would put protection of countryside and the environment at the heart of its strategic vision for the future. This new strategic direction follows the council’s declaration of a climate emergency and the overwhelming public opposition to the government imposed housing target – which could have been more than 900 homes per year.
The draft Local Plan would include:
Local Plans set out the land to be protected from development across the borough and, under Wokingham’s, these ‘no-go’ areas for development would include all land designated as green belt as well as the overwhelming majority of the 300-plus sites developers have been eyeing-up across the borough.
“This could be a new dawn for Wokingham Borough with a commitment to a fully-fledged Garden Town where people will be able to live the sort of environmentally-aware, sustainable lifestyles that are becoming the 21st Century ideal,” said Cllr Wayne Smith, executive member for planning and enforcement.
“This is an ambitious vision. If approved and funded as we are proposing, Grazeley Garden Town would have the sort of upfront investment in infrastructure that is normally only dreamed of in the UK – we are talking about getting things like the transport systems, schools, health hubs and community and sporting facilities built ahead of the housing.
“We are also proposing homes that are designed to protect the environment, provided within communities designed for sustainable lifestyles. People living in a future Grazeley Garden Town would have the jobs and ‘big city’ buzz of Reading to the north and the natural beauty of West Berkshire and our borough to the west and east – a set-up that matches the original vision of garden towns perfectly.”
With Grazeley able to provide a large number of the additional housing that is needed across the borough in the years up to 2036, and potentially to the mid-2050s, the borough council would be better able to resist potential housing sites elsewhere that have been put forward by developers. There would still need to be some smaller scale growth in towns and villages where agreed locally, but most of the 300-plus potential sites put forward as part of the Local Plan process would be rejected.
– ENDS –
Further information:
Urgent Works at Reading Road, Arborfield
Please be aware that due to a gas leak, in the carriageway, in Reading Road, near Milkingbarn Lane, Arborfield. SGN are undertaking urgent works to do the necessary repairs. To do this in safety, 2 way Temporary Traffic lights will be in operation. These Urgent works are expected to be completed by the 25/11/2019. I have requested lights to be manually controlled at peak times i.e. 07.00 to 09.30 & 15.30 to 19.00.
We apologise for any inconvenience these works may cause.
Best regards,
Karuna Kachhwaha
Streetworks Coordinator
Delivery & Infrastructure
PO Box 143
Shute End
Wokingham
Berkshire
Tel: 0118 974 6995
E-mail – karuna.kachhwaha@wokingham.gov.uk
Webstie: www.wokingham.gov.uk
Please don’t print this e-mail unless you really need to – think of the environment
To report anything such as potholes, broken signs, vegetation, faded lines etc. this can be done online at http://www.wokingham.gov.uk/roads. If you are reporting something dangerous or of an urgent nature, please call us on 0118 974 6000 and select the Highways option.
